


One String, Two Strings, Red Strings, Blue Strings

by hollyus



Category: Lego Ninjago
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Blue String of Fate, F/F, Internalized Homophobia, M/M, Polyamory, Red String of Fate, Slow Burn, Soulmates, Swearing/cursing, jaya at the start but theyll break up i promise, lloyd/micah/rhian sparkleshipping hell yeah, that doesnt exist but now it does baby
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-11-25
Updated: 2017-12-17
Packaged: 2019-02-06 17:45:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,718
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12822753
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hollyus/pseuds/hollyus
Summary: Lloyd can see the red strings of fate. Romantic soulmates are connected to each other, all in loops of red, and he can see everybody’s connections. Except for his own.Nya can see the blue strings of fate. Platonic soulmates, like romantic soulmates, are connected to each other in lines of blue. Like Lloyd, she can only see everybody else's platonic connections, except for her own.--OR--Nya and Lloyd get so caught up with other's strings of fate that they forget about their own potential soulmates.





	1. The Red String of Fate

 

Red bedazzles Kai’s figure. Three strings, over one of his arms, over his shoulder, and over one of his legs. Sometimes Lloyd jokes with himself  _ how could  _ Kai _ have so many soulmate connections?  _ Then, however, he remembers Kai’s compassion and caring and thinks,  _ Yeah, maybe that’s deserved. _

 

Nya has two strings. Even with Kai’s compassion and caring, he’s surprised Nya doesn’t have at least as many soulmates as Kai. Then again, maybe the no doubt many people who fall in love with her don’t deserve her. Besides, two strings is still more than average. Most people only have one.

 

He doesn’t tell _ anybody  _ besides Wu about the lines of red. Wu tells him that his grandfather possessed this ability, and that one day, when Lloyd is dead, the power would be passed down further along the line. 

 

The red strings aren’t too annoying. Sometimes he sees a person proposing to another that their string isn’t connected to. He thinks  _ Yikes _ but doesn’t do anything.

 

Tonight Nya (He lives with Wu, Nya, and Kai) brought her boyfriend of a month or so to family dinner. Kai wouldn’t be able to come until later because of work troubles, and Lloyd could already see Kai being pissed he couldn’t size up Nya’s boyfriend sooner.

 

Nya and her boyfriend, though, were not connected. Her boyfriend- Jay- had three strings like Kai, all leading outward. 

 

“Is she and Jay connected?” Wu whispered in Lloyd’s ear. Lloyd shook his head. “Oh dear, this is going to be awkward.”

 

“Who knows, maybe unconnected people can fall in love with each other same like soulmates?” Lloyd shrugged unhelpfully. 

 

Wu shook his head. “It doesn’t work that way.”

 

Jay was currently feeding Nya a spoon of soup. Nya grabbed the spoon, accidentally flicking some soup in Jay’s face. Jay had a split second mortified look on his face, cleaning it up quickly while Nya just laughed. Soon, they were both laughing together.

 

They both looked so happy that even if he could, Lloyd wouldn’t tell them. Lloyd continued nursing his own bowl of soup, happy yet also sad for the couple.

 

The door opened with a loud bang. “Don’t break the door, Kai.” Wu huffed. 

 

Kai walked in with a scowl on his face, obviously to intimidate Nya’s boyfriend. Jay was looking at him in slight awe then relaxed, winking. “Oh, you must be Nya’s brother! Nice to meet you, I’m Jay.”

 

“I’m Kai.” Kai said curtly. He settled down at his spot at the table and eyed Jay suspiciously. 

 

_ Wait. _ A red line of Kai’s, the one over his arm, was floating midair. It stretched across the table corner to Jay’s elbow. They were connected.

 

Lloyd slumped in his chair slightly. Oh God, this was going to be awkward.

 

\-----

 

The night passed and Lloyd noticed Jay was eyefucking Kai a ton. Kai didn’t notice and ignored Jay after he delivered the shovel talk.

 

“Why do you look at my brother a lot like that?” Nya inquired. She wasn’t suspicious, just curious.

 

“Because I’m a weak bi and apparently people in the Smith family are attractive as fuck.” Jay turned to look at Nya, brushing a hand through Nya’s hair. “Anyways, if you’re _ jealous _ or something...”

 

Nya snorted. “I’m not.”

 

Jay finger gunned her. “Just know you're my one and only, okay babe?”

 

Nya kissed his cheek. “Alright, you dork.”

 

‘One and only’ Jay said. Then Lloyd looks at Jay’s three strings, none of which are connected to Nya, and winces. Yikes.

 

\-----

 

Lloyd three-wheels with Jay and Nya to a trip to the mall. Actually, four-wheels, since Kai came along too. Kai certainly isn’t being a three wheel, though, since Jay always finds some way to include him. However, Lloyd is kind of left off to the side. 

 

“I’m gonna go explore the mall and maybe get ice cream, bye you fuckers.” Lloyd said, running and waving his phone in his air so Kai doesn’t yell after him worriedly about getting lost.

 

“Kay!” Jay yells. Some people turn and look at him weirdly, but others just continue with their day.

 

Lloyd slows down and looks around. A shoe shop. A buffet. A bread shop. Another shoe shop. A Chinese food place. _ Another  _ shoe shop- why were there so many shoe shops?! 

 

He finds an ice cream place- Cold Stone Creamery- and shrugs, walking in. The lovely aroma of sugar overload fills his nose and he sighs happily. He goes up to examine the flavors and spots the cashier. The cashier was a redhead with striking green eyes. She was really cute. 

 

She played around with a tiny spoon at the cash register, eyebrows knit in exhaustion. It looked like she hadn’t slept in a while.

 

She seemed to perk up a little when she saw Lloyd, though. Lloyd went closer and was able to read her nametag, which said ‘Hi! My name is Rhian.’

 

Rhian grinned and put her elbows on the table. “Heya. What can I do for you?” Lloyd noticed she had one red string on one of her arms leading outward and a string that just circled her arm, like a bracelet. It may have actually been a bracelet, but it was hard to find fabric that looked like the red strings, right?

 

“Can I have a chocolate dipped waffle cone with Cookies N’ Cream?” Lloyd asked. Rhian nodded, and she swiftly took a chocolate dipped waffle cone and put in two scoops of Cookies N’ Cream.

 

“You want any toppings?” She asked.

 

Lloyd shook his head. “Nah.” She nodded and handed the ice cream to Lloyd. He quickly gave her some money and she took it, the cash register emitting a little  _ ‘ding!’ _ .

 

With his ice cream in one hand, he sat at a table near the counter. Eventually, Rhian quipped about something, and Lloyd responded, and it fell into a series of conversations. One of her coworkers actually told her to stop snickering with the customer. Lloyd liked talking with Rhian, and, somehow, Rhian found Lloyd’s sense of humor amusing. When he had finished his ice cream, he was a bit sad that he had to stop talking to Rhian (Her coworkers weren’t, though).

 

“Hey.” Rhian said. Lloyd turned around as Rhian handed a coupon to him. “Here’s this. You’re pretty cool. I’m gonna go back to  _ actually  _ doing my job.”

 

Lloyd waved ‘bye’ at her and she waved back, then started to explain some of the flavors to another customer. Lloyd sighed and examined the coupon. 15% off, huh? He turned over the coupon and was surprised to see a written down number. Below it, it said ‘-Rhian. Text me, we can hang out!’.

 

Grinning at Rhian’s number, he dumped his finished off ice cream in the bin, and started to run out of the Cold Stone Creamery and around the mall. He eventually found Jay, Nya, and Kai talking about something by the escalator. It turns out they’d been waiting for him and Lloyd had completely forgotten about his phone while talking with Rhian. They quickly went back home, and Lloyd noticed that even though Jay had his arm around Nya’s shoulders, he gravitated towards Kai.

 

\-----

 

Lloyd had started to hang out with Rhian. A lot, or at least as much as both of them can. 

 

While they were walking to a park from the Cold Stone Creamery, Rhian suddenly made a sharp turn and entered a flower shop. Lloyd made a little sound of surprise and followed her.

 

The flower shop was cozy with gentle colors and the strong scent of flowers filling the shop. Rhian was making a beeline towards a shelf of dark pink flowers.

 

He spotted a boy his age by the shelf of flowers holding up a flower gently, with gloves and an apron on and a focused expression. He had one string and a string-bracelet, just like Rhian. Strange. He set the scissors he held in one of his hands down and looked at Rhian. “Hey!” He then looked at Lloyd. “Ooh, Rhian, who’s this?” The boy inquired. He was a redhead like Rhian, Lloyd noted. His eyes followed the boy’s string and- shit- it turned out he was connected with Rhian.

 

“This is Lloyd. Met him at work, and we’ve been hanging out some this past week or so.” Rhian grinned. The boy smiled.

 

“Hi Lloyd! I’m Micah.” Micah focused back on the flower and snipped a piece of it, then stuck a pole gently into the pot and stood up.

 

“Are you two...dating?” Lloyd asked hesitantly. 

 

They both pinked immediately. “No- no we’re- we’re just friends.” Rhian stuttered. Micah covered his face in embarrassment. Lloyd could tell, though, that both wanted more.

 

“Okay then.” He said suspiciously.

 

Micah placed the scissors into one of pockets on his apron. A pink flower with a smiley face was stitched into it. He then promptly sat down and dug his face into his legs.

 

Rhian, having recovered from her blush and embarrassment, brought out a bag of gummy worms from her bag, giving one to Micah sympathetically and popping one into her own mouth. She then attempted to hand feed Lloyd one, but he wasn’t having any of that and just took it and ate it himself.

 

“We’re gonna go to the park, you want to join?” Rhian asked, chewing on the gummy worm.

 

“My shift’s gonna end soon, so sure.” Micah stood up, his face having returned to normal.

 

“Yeah, I know that, that’s why I asked.”

 

“What, you’ve memorised my schedule or something?”

 

“Yeah.”

 

“Okay, fair.” Micah vaulted the counter, making a loud thud. He dashed into a room which Lloyd guessed was employees-only and emerged apron-less. 

 

“Let’s go to the park!” Micah said. As they walked out the shop, Rhian started to chant  _ ‘Park! Park! Park! Park!’ _ and the other two quickly joined in. People looked at them weirdly, and Lloyd wouldn’t be surprised if one of bypassers thought the three were in a cult or something.

 

The park was your standard park, a green field and a small playground with screaming kids. Forests and houses surrounded the park and a small lake with ducks was near the playground. The screaming kids at the playground eventually became the screaming kids feeding the ducks that way.

 

Suddenly, Rhian swiftly ran towards the playground, settled onto a spring horse rider that was much too small for her, and pumped her fist in the air. She grinned widely and Micah took after her, settling into a spring pig rider that was even smaller than the horse one. They both looked like they were wildly uncomfortable yet somehow having the fucking time of their life, rocking back and forth on the spring riders. Some of the kids ran away from the two, probably surprised and maybe frightened of the teenagers on a playground for 5-12 year olds.

 

Rhian pointed to a frog one. “Come on! Lloyd, it’s green, that’s your thing yeah?” Lloyd looked down at his jacket. It was green. Rhian wasn’t wrong about green being Lloyd’s thing.

 

Lloyd rolled his eyes. This was going to be uncomfortable as all hell, but he jumped into the frog one. As suspected, it was way too small for him, and he couldn’t rock around all that much without worrying about getting a bruise on his leg.

 

“What...what are they doing?” A passerby, a man with seemingly dyed white hair in a shape of a cube, whispered to his friend. 

 

“They’re teenagers, man, they do whatever they like.” The friend, who was shorter and had moppy black hair, muttered, listening to music, one earbud in the friend’s ear and one earbud in the passerby’s ear. Lloyd noted they both had three strings like his brother and that they were connected to each other.

 

“We’re having the best fucking time of our lives, fuckers!” Rhian yelled at the two, ignoring Micah’s ‘Rhian, there are kids here’.

 

“You probably shouldn’t curse.” The taller one said. 

 

“Are you two boyfriends?” Lloyd blurted out. He  _ always _ had some weird urge to interfere with those who are connected, and sometimes it came out.

 

The black-haired one grinned. “Yeah, good eye. We’re boyfriends.”

 

“As if you two sharing earbuds wasn’t clue enough.” Micah muttered. Then he looked at Rhian and Lloyd. “Hey, Rhian, is Lloyd some kind of weird matchmaker?”

 

Rhian thought for a moment. “Not...Not usually?” She offered pathetically.

 

“Are you two polyamorous?” Lloyd asked. Sometimes people who think they’re monogamous have several strings.

 

“Listen, kid, yeah we are, but you’re like 12- we’re not gonna-”

 

“No, I’m...” God, sometimes it was annoying to keep his red strings power secret. “I’m asking for a friend?”

 

Rhian shot Lloyd a weird look. 

 

The shorter one chuckled. Then he said, “Come on, Zane, let’s leave these kids to their weird things.”

 

Zane nodded. “Alright, Cole.” They walked away.

 

“What.. was that?” Rhian asked, confused.

 

Lloyd shrugged, embarrassed. “I got secrets.”

 

\-----

 

Lloyd returned home. To his surprise, he saw Cole and Zane talking with Kai. Lloyd noticed that they were both also connected to Kai.

 

“Kai, you didn’t tell me you had two boyfriends!” Lloyd said, surprised.

 

“No. NO NO NO NO. These are friends.” Kai said, waving his hands around to emphasize his point, embarrassed.

 

“It’s the teen from the playground.” Zane said.

 

“Huh?” Kai said.

 

“He asked us if we were dating, then asked if we were polyamorous, apparently for a friend.” Cole explained.

 

“Lloyd, don’t randomly talk to strangers! And _ especially  _ don’t randomly ask them that!” Kai complained. "God, you're like Nya. She always asks people if they're best friends or something." That is weird...

 

Lloyd shrugged. “Eh. Kai, I need help on math homework.”

 

“I doubt I can help for shit, but okay.” Kai said nervously. Lloyd would ask Nya but she tended to get impatient with younger people. Kai was hot-headed, but he was pretty good at being a brother, if you asked Lloyd.

 

“I can try helping!” Zane suggested. Cole retracted his arm slung around Zane and nodded.

 

“Yeah, Zane’s probably your best bet.” Cole said.

 

Lloyd brought out his math homework and Zane crouched down, explaining the problems slowly and gently. 

 

Lloyd asked Zane some questions, and Zane answered them all good-naturedly. Dang, he had even more patience than Kai.

 

“Do you get it?” Zane asked.

 

Lloyd gnawed on his lip. “Yeah, I think. Can you look over my homework afterwards, though?”

 

Zane smiled. “Sure.” Lloyd was pretty sure Zane was an angel.

 

Lloyd quickly did his homework as the other three fell into conversation again. They were talking about dogs, and Lloyd was pretty sure Kai was info-dumping about Samoyed dogs now. 

 

When his homework was finished, he waved it around in Zane’s face and Zane took it, examining it.

 

“Pretty good! Can you redo this question, though?” He asked, handing the paper back to Lloyd and pointing at #11.

 

Lloyd groaned and took it. It was a question he had trouble with. He redid it to the best of his ability and gave it to Zane. Zane nodded approvingly.

 

“Zane can you like come to our house every time Lloyd has trouble with his homework? I’m already shit at school and Nya is shit with patience.” Kai begged, half-joking. Only half.

 

“Alright!” Zane chirped.

 

“I HEARD MY NAME, ARE YOU SHITTALKING ME?” Nya yelled from upstairs, peering over the stairs. 

 

“SHITTALKING YOUR PATIENCE, YEAH!” Kai shouted back.

 

“...FAIR ENOUGH.”

 

“Charming.” Cole quipped.

 

“Shit, I’m getting texts. I’m gonna go to my room.” Lloyd said, dashing into his room at the sound of unforgiving  _ bzzt _ ’s from his phone.

 

He pulled out his phone. Turns out, he had been put in a groupchat with Rhian and and an unknown number. Reading the conversation a bit, he found out the unknown number was Micah. He quickly put him in his contact book. 

 

**Me**

what the fuck is this

 

**Rhian**

the goddamn groupchat of the century, garmadon

 

**Micah**

who that

 

**Rhian**

that’s lloyd

 

**Me**

It me, lloyd

 

**Micah**

o, ok!!

 

They all chatted for a while on the groupchat while Lloyd bullshitted the essay he had to write. He asked them for help a few times but turns out both of them were also kind of shit at essays. Soon, though, he finished, and noticed the time. 

 

**Me**

guys i have to go to dinner

 

**Me**

byeee

 

**Micah**

oh bye!

 

**Rhian**

goodbye shitfuck

 

And Lloyd then went downstairs to eat dinner.


	2. The Blue String of Fate

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nya looked at a drawing she had made when she was- what, 9 or 10? It had been a drawing of Kai and Lloyd, with a blue string symbolizing platonic soul bond between them. Kai also had another blue string that led east of nowhere in the picture. Back then, she thought everybody could see those strings.

Nya looked at a drawing she had made when she was- what, 9 or 10? It had been a drawing of Kai and Lloyd, with a blue string symbolizing platonic soul bond between them. Kai also had another blue string that led east of nowhere in the picture. Back then, she thought everybody could see those strings. Kid Nya was idiotic at times.

Kai had been confused about the strings and Wu pulled her over and explained the strings to her. She had been so proud to hear that she was special and planned to brag to her friends- and then Wu took a hammer to that fantasy and said that she was supposed to keep it a secret. 

Sometimes she was intrigued by the string between Kai and Lloyd and attempted to touch it, but her hand only passed through the string with a wisp of strong feeling going through her.

She put the drawing in the ‘maybe I’ll look at this later’ pile and went back through sifting through and sorting the heaps of drawings by small Nya Kai had kept.

She had a ton of drawings in the ‘I’ll redraw this’ pile. Art was one of her big hobbies. However, with the time that university took up, she wasn’t able to do as much art as she would’ve liked.

She finished her sorting, put the ‘eh’ and the ‘maybe I’ll look at this later’ piles into a box, and brought the ‘I’ll redraw this’ pile to a table next to a pencil and paper. She began to doodle and redraw some of the drawings, but alas, she found her hands sloppily sketching out the cute girl she had met a while ago.

She quickly stopped drawing and blushed. The drawing was of Pixal, the cute girl studying Computer Science. She had met Pixal through her boyfriend, who had a similar major to Pixal’s- Mechanical Engineering. Right, Nya, you have a boyfriend, get it through your head.

She looked at the half-drawn picture of Pixal she just produced. Ack, even as much as she accidentally draws Pixal and studies Pixal when she comes over, she never quite gets her...essence right. Nya supposes the sparkle that illuminates Pixal’s hair, the glow from Pixal’s eyes when she’s happy, the euphoria of her smile are just things that cannot be put onto paper. 

She was thinking about Pixal so much. Why was she thinking about Pixal so much?

Troubled by her thoughts about Pixal, Nya cleared her head and put her drawings away for the day.

She entered the kitchen and saw Kai nibbling on a Tako chip. His legs were up on the chair too and he leaned his chin on his knees. He seemed to be in intense thought, though Nya knew her brother was probably just thinking about whether or not the s or the c was silent in scent.

“Yo, bro, where’s Lloyd?” She asked, looking around for the boy with a golden mop for hair.

“Terror trio.” Kai stated. Kai had affectionately dubbed Lloyd, Rhian, and Micah the ‘terror trio’ ever since the three had stayed up until 4 am on a school night texting each other. Then, after they stopped texting, Lloyd had sleepily walked to the kitchen, accidentally knocked over about ten things, and threw a bag of crackers at Kai, who was already there for a 4 am pee and snack.

“Oh, yeah.” Nya said. “He’s usually out with those two.”

“I know, a week and a half after meeting them and I’m pretty sure he’s in friend-love with them.” Kai snorted. “Or maybe actually in love with them.”

“Like you said, it’s been a week and a half.” Nya rolled her eyes.

“Speaking of love, how’s things going with Jay?” Kai asked.

“Are you really that protective of me or have you suddenly developed a crush on my boyfriend?” Nya said. Not gonna lie, she wouldn’t be surprised if it was both.

“Can’t I just be interested in people’s love life?”

“Kai, you’re single and bitter about it.”

“...Touché.” 

Nya chuckled. “Things are going...fine.”

“Fine?”

“Yeah, he’s gonna take me to the movies this saturday.” Nya shrugged.

“...Good thing?” 

Nya looked at him weirdly. “Of course it’s a good thing? I’m going on a date with my boyfriend.”

“...I dunno, you just seem very unemotional about it.” Kai frowned.

“Eh?” Nya offered. She was usually kind of impassive when it came to Jay, but she assumed that was just how relationships went after a while of having them. 

Kai changed the subject. “Okay, so you know how some Tako chip bags say ‘seafood flavor’ on them? I’ve been wondering which seafood it is.”

“Have you been sitting here for 2 hours eating Tako chips trying to figure that out?” Nya asked.

“..Maybe.”

Nya chuckled. “Let me get into those Tako chips, I’m gonna help you.”

\-----

“Wu, is there somebody who can see romantic connections?” Nya asked. Kai had gone out to do something- probably impulse buy 20 seafood flavor Tako chips- leaving just her and Wu in the house. Wu had gone to the kitchen to get some water.

Wu’s expression twisted “...Yes.”

“Do you who?”

Wu looked at the window, hesitating before giving his answer. “...Perhaps.”

“Who is it?” 

“I’m not sure if I should tell you.”

“Why?” Nya felt like a detective, asking this many questions.

“Trust me, I don’t want two match-making young people interrupting stranger’s lives.” Wu snorted. “Shoot, I said too much.”

“Well, I don’t know your definition of ‘young people’. I’m pretty sure you’re like 300 years old anyways.” Nya grinned.

“Don’t be so rude to your elders, Nya.”

“Try me, old man.” 

Wu simply rolled his eyes in response and went back into his room with his water.

\-----

Jay and Nya walked to the room where the movie they had chosen- The Lego Ninjago Movie- was playing. Jay carrying a huge amount of popcorn and Nya holding two large cokes. 

Jay flashed a smile at Nya. Nya gave him a small smile in return. 

“Let’s go, m’lady.” Jay said as they approached the door. He had attempted to bow, but the bag of popcorn had gotten in the way, so he ended up awkwardly bending over. Nya snickered in response and Jay beamed at having gotten a reaction out of her.

Ads for other movies were currently playing, and the two settled down at their seat.

\-----

The movie ended with dorky end credits. Nya was pretty sure that Lord Theroux guy was dancing in his pajamas. 

As Nya and Jay exited the room, Jay commented, “You know, that Abbi girl? Motorcycle kickass token girl? She kind of reminds me of you.”

“Heaven knows I’m the token girl.” Nya smiled. Jay huffed, obviously not knowing what to say back.

“Oh, Nya, Jay! Is that you?” A familiar voice called. Nya looked at where it was coming from, and could feel her heart immediately weakening when she saw that it was Pixal. Except it shouldn't be weakening. Come on Nya, you have a boyfriend!

“Oh, hey Pixal!” Jay grinned. He poked Pixal’s nose who smiled pleasantly.

“Hi, Pix!” Nya said, almost stuttering. 

“What movie did you come from?” Pixal questioned.

“We came from the Ninjago one. What about you?” Jay asked.

“Coco! It’s really good- you should watch it sometime.”

Jay nodded. “I’ll take note of that. You should watch the Ninjago one, too!” 

Silence fell over them as they walked out the movie theater together. A honk sounded from a purple car several feet away and Pixal turned around to face Nya and Jay.

“That’s my ride! Bye guys!” She said, walking over to her car. There was an orange-haired girl at the wheel in the car.

“Goodbye!” Jay called, waving enthusiastically.

“Oh, bye!” Nya said, waving goodbye as well. The car drove away, Pixal giving a little wave ‘goodbye’ to them and turning around, seemingly talking to the orange-haired girl.

It was then Nya realized she had barely talked to Pixal, only greeting her and wishing her farewell. It was also then Nya noticed her pounding heart. She punched her chest lightly. Shut up, chest.

Jay and Nya got into Jay’s parent’s car- or what Nya and Jay dubbed it, ‘the nuts and bolts’. Even Kai started calling it that.

“Let’s get you home, Nyah.” Jay said, fidgeting with the rear view mirror a little bit.

“Fuck you, Jay.” Nya muttered good-naturedly.

“Haha, love you too, babe.” Jay pushed on the gas pedal and they were going back to Nya’s house. The radio was softly humming out a tune, and Nya was looking speculatively for the hundredth time at the blue string wrapped around Jay’s wrist, that apparently was connected to nobody.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> there is a week and a half timeskip from last chapter if you couldn't tell, by the way! :)
> 
> tumblr - general-nartis  
> ninjago tumblr - lesbianskylor


	3. crumpled up flowers and feelings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "My father- your grandfather- never talked much about the soul bonds he could see. Maybe that’s something that’ll develop later on,” Wu said.
> 
> Lloyd frowned. “Aw, man, I wish I knew more about this shit.”
> 
> “I wish so too, Lloyd, I wish so too.”

“Wu, why do all the red strings look the same?” Lloyd asked, playing around with a bracelet Nya had given him four years ago.

 

“What do you mean by that?” Wu inquired.

 

“Like, aren’t some romantic soul bonds different? I mean, it’s not like all relationships are the same, nor do they evoke the same response out of everyone.” 

 

“Well, in the end, they’re still romantic soul bonds, and they should still leave the connected happy, right?” Wu said. He tapped his chin, though, thinking about something else. “I suppose that is weird, though. My father- your grandfather- never talked much about the soul bonds he could see. Maybe that’s something that’ll develop later on.”

 

Lloyd frowned. “Aw, man, I wish I knew more about this shit.” 

 

“I wish so too, Lloyd, I wish so too.”

 

\-----

 

A knock sounded from the door. Lloyd fell out his chair in surprise. “Ow.” He quickly got up as Kai went up to the door.

 

“Yo Lloyd,” Kai said, “your significant others are here.” Kai opened the door and Micah and Rhian were standing there. Rhian was leaning her shoulder against Micah’s and seemed to have been whispering to Micah before Kai opened the door.

 

“Significant others?” Rhian’s voice cracked. Kai nodded.

 

“He’s joking,” Lloyd said. He glared at Kai who grinned and walked away.

 

“Hey, Greenie!” Micah called. Noticing that Lloyd’s theme was green, Micah had begun to call him Greenie.

 

“Hey, Lloyd!” Rhian said.

 

“Come on.” Lloyd gestured them to his room. It wasn’t far from the door, just across the kitchen and a few steps down a hall. 

 

His room was painted green and gold all over, and action figures, some damaged, littered the room. His bed was not made and the green lava lamp on the drawer was kind of cracked. In fact, the neatest thing in the room was the drawings from when he was 5 that were piled semi-neatly in the corner. Kai had kept them. Kai keeps all drawings.

 

However, despite all this, Lloyd really loved his room. He had spent countless hours in that damn green hellhole, many of which crying. Besides, Rhian and Micah didn’t seem to care much about the messy layout of his room either, for Rhian lay on the unmade bed making herself home and Micah sat in the torn green bean-bag by the closet quite comfortably.

 

“You guys gonna play some smoochy smoochy truth or dare?” Kai yelled through the walls of the room.

 

“SHUT THE FUCK UP, KAI!” Lloyd shouted.

 

“That’s how most wattpad fanfiction starts!”   
  


“We’re not in a goddamn fanfiction, Kai!” Lloyd said, annoyed.

 

“Yeah, and if we WERE in a fanfiction, I don’t mean to sound narcissistic but maybe we’re above wattpad quality? Like, maybe we’re in archiveofourown or something,” Rhian commented.

 

“Don’t feed him, Rhi,” Lloyd warned.

 

“Shit, you may be right, but where’s the chat fic part?”

 

“Uh, we use phones, right? And text and stuff, right?” Rhian said, “maybe that’s where the chat fic comes in.”

 

“Yo, what if we’re in fanfiction.net?” Micah inquired.

 

“Nope, ff.net has lemons, and I sure as hell don’t want to be in a smut one-shot,” Kai huffed. 

 

“I hate you all. You’re seriously having a conversation about which fanfiction website we would be in if we were in a fanfiction. Which we’re NOT, by the way!” Lloyd complained.

 

“IT’S A PLAUSIBLE QUESTION, LLOYD!” Rhian exclaimed.

 

Lloyd threw a pillow at Rhian and Micah.

 

\-----

 

After Rhian and Micah left, Nya approached Lloyd.

 

“Do you like them?” Nya asked.

 

“Uh- uhm- yes, good friends, mhm!” Lloyd stuttered.

 

“You know damn well what I’m talking about,” Nya deadpanned.

 

“I hate having siblings. Go tease Kai,” Lloyd groaned.

 

“About what? His crippling singleness and feelings for two people _ taken by each other _ ?” Nya said, “nah, you’re more interesting to tease.”

 

“They’re poly,” Lloyd muttered, thinking about the strings that connected them with Kai.

 

“Yes, but Kai’s an idiot.” Nya shrugged. Lloyd couldn’t argue with that. 

 

“Wait, Kai has a crush on them?” he said, surprised. Lloyd didn’t realize that would develop so quickly.

 

“I think? He’s kind of insufferable when it comes to those two,” Nya chuckled.

 

“Damn,” Lloyd murmured.

 

Nya looked outside the window, “Seriously, though, do you like Rhian and Micah?”

 

“I’ve known them for..three weeks? I don’t know,” Lloyd shrugged, nervous. 

 

Nya nodded and dropped it. “By the way, these two girls named Skylor and Pixal- remember me talking about Pixal the Computer Science major?- might be dropping around the house sometime this or next week. Just a heads up.”

 

“Aha! Do you like them?” Lloyd asked snidely.

 

“I suddenly regret all teasing of you.”

 

\-----

 

“Damn, Kai, what are you so worried about?” Lloyd asked. Kai was sitting at the kitchen table, frowning.

 

“It’s just- I don’t think Nya and Jay are working out so well...”

 

Lloyd cocked his head. “What makes you say that?”

 

“Nya’s so indifferent to going on a date with Jay! I’ve had relationships held longer than theirs- albeit still pretty short- and I’ve never gotten  _ bored _ of dates!”

 

“Maybe she doesn’t want you poking around, Kai.” Lloyd shrugged. People who weren’t romantic soulmates could still have pretty good relationships. “Are you jealous?” He added, thinking about the connection between Kai and Jay.

 

Kai’s face colored. “No, I’m not!” He sighed. “I’m genuinely worried, though.” 

 

“Alright, what do you want to do about that?”

 

“I think I’m gonna tell her that ain’t normal. I can still tell she’s very happy to be around Jay, but it seems specifically dates and other romantic shit make her go into a ‘huh.’ mode.” 

 

“Okay, then.”

 

\-----

 

“Kai, please, I  _ want _ to be with Jay!” Lloyd heard from the downstairs kitchen. Oh God.

 

“Nya! That’s not normal! Do you  _ want  _ me to call up Zane and Cole? They’ve been together six months and know damn well that lasting, good relationships don’t feel like that at  _ two months _ !”

 

“I’m the girlfriend who’s boyfriend eyefucks her brother every damn time he sees him! Do you think I’d still be with him if I didn’t actually like him?”   
  


“Well, maybe you’re trying to use him to prove something!”

 

“Prove what, Kai, prove what?!”

 

Lloyd promptly put on his cheap noise muffling headphones. They weren’t the best, but they kept Kai and Nya’s argument- or ‘discussion’ as Wu would say- down to a murmur. He really didn’t fucking need this.

 

\-----

 

Thankfully, the argument didn’t turn out to be too much. Apparently, after Lloyd had cancelled them out with his headphones, it had quickly advanced into a hug-and-cry fest. 

 

“Yeah, I understand that Kai’s watching out for me,” Nya shrugged, explaining what happened to Wu and Lloyd, “however, I’m gonna stay with Jay. I do still believe I like him.”

 

Lloyd saw a flicker of doubt flash in Nya’s eyes. Of course, he wasn’t gonna comment on it, but it kind of made Lloyd agree with Kai. 

 

Was Nya actually happy with Jay?

 

\-----

 

Lloyd was clinging onto Kai’s arm as they walked around a park with Zane and Cole. Zane and Cole, however, were far ahead of them.

 

“I feel like you’re gonna pull off my arm, Lloyd.” Kai commented, wiggling the arm Lloyd was holding on to. Lloyd only tightened his grasp. Kai rolled his eyes and looked forward at Cole and Zane.

 

Cole was animatedly talking to Zane, using his hands to emphasize some of his speech. Zane just listened, sometimes laughing and making small comments. 

 

“Nya tells me you like-like them. Do you like-like them?” Lloyd asked, leaning on Kai, almost making him trip. Kai became flustered, and he opened his mouth to say something, but was interrupting.

 

“Y’all, catch up!” Zane called. Cole and Zane had stopped walking and now turned towards them.

 

“We’re coming!” Lloyd exclaimed, and started running towards them, hands still grasping Kai’s arm. Kai huffed, recovered from his flusteredness, and ran with him. They stopped and stood next to Cole. Cole now had his elbow on Kai’s shoulder.

 

Kai looked at Cole and Zane, and when they noticed, he quickly glanced away. Lloyd looked at the strings connecting the three and cheekily decided to try and touch it.

 

Obviously, his hand just went through the string, but he could feel a small wave of affection go through him when he touched it.

 

_ Huh. _

 

Analyzing the string, Lloyd also noticed that the string between the three seemed thicker than Lloyd remembered. Maybe his memory wasn’t working today. He compared the string to Zane’s third string, though, and found they were a little different. He shook his head. His vision was probably wonky.

 

“Earth to Lloyd?” Zane said, snapping him out of his string-trance.

 

“Sorry,” Lloyd chuckled weakly.

 

A couple birds screamed nearby and Cole insulted them, flipping them off. Kai immediately covered Lloyd’s ears.

 

“I’m not a baby!” He whined.

 

“Yes you are!” Kai said.

 

Lloyd blew raspberry at Kai and shoved Kai’s hands off, and finally stopped clinging onto Kai’s arm. Kai, moving away from Lloyd, stretched his arms, shoving Cole’s elbow off his shoulder in the process. He smiled and brought his arms back down again. He inspected his arms like he hadn’t had them in four years or something. Lloyd noted in his head that Cole and Zane both smiled when Kai smiled.

 

“Come on, let’s finish walking the park now that an 11 year old isn’t hanging on my arm,” Kai said confidently.

 

“I’m 16!”

 

“Right, right.”

 

The three finished walking the path and came to the front of the park. There were several shops lined up across the road from the park. Lloyd’s brain immediately routed the way to the flower shop Micah works at, to his embarrassment. If Kai could read his mind, he would immediately begin teasing Lloyd.

 

“Hey, do you want to come to our apartment?” Cole asked, pointing his thumb the direction where Lloyd assumed was Cole’s apartment.

 

“Sure!” Kai said, chipper.

 

“Nah, I think I’m just gonna go visit Micah then go home,” Lloyd shrugged.

 

“You have your phone, right?” Kai asked.

 

“Yeah,” Lloyd said, holding out his kind of small green phone.

 

“Alright then. Go, be gay,” Kai said, quoting Voltron. Well, almost-quoting Voltron. Same thing. Cole chuckled and held Zane’s hand, who smiled.

 

“Thanks,” Lloyd grinned, and started walking to the flower shop. Kai, Cole, and Zane, begun walking in another direction. He could see Kai accidentally brush Zane’s hand and quickly take his hand away. Kai, when teasing, calls Lloyd the useless bi, but is _ Lloyd _ really the useless bi here?

 

\---- 

 

Lloyd opened the door to the flower shop, a rush of flower scents brushing past him. Micah was sucking on a candy cane and tapping his pen on a clipboard with a small sheet of paper on it. He looked up when Lloyd entered and surprise filled his expression for a second.

 

“Oh hey Lloyd! I.. I didn’t expect you to come so early,” Micah said, looking nervous.

 

“Come early for what?” Lloyd asked, confused.

 

“I sent you and Rhian a text to come meet me in 10,” Micah said.

 

“Oh. I didn’t see that, but here I am I guess,” Lloyd shrugged. 

 

“Why’d you come?”

 

“‘Cause I have nothing to do at home other than listen to Nya think she’s straight and my brother is with his two future boyfriends at their apartment,” Lloyd said.

 

“Your sister thinks she’s straight?”

 

“Yeah, but I’m pretty she isn’t, ‘cause she keeps on using gay expressions with her two future girlfriends,” Lloyd muttered.

 

“Why do you keep on using future significant others instead of using their names?” Micah asked.

 

“Because, they’re future girlfriends, future boyfriends, future whatevers. Trust me, I know,” Lloyd claimed. Funny thing is, he did actually kind of know.

 

“Alright, I trust you. Do you know who my future significant other is, then?” Micah asked. Lloyd thought about the string that connected Rhian and him, and the strange red string bracelet Micah had.

 

“I’m not telling you,” Lloyd said.

 

“Aw, why not?”

 

“I’m not telling you.”

 

“Fine then,” Micah pouted. Lloyd chuckled. Micah then shot a glance at something behind him that Lloyd could not see. Micah sighed and rubbed his forehead. “Lloyd, I’m gonna go outside for a little bit, I’ll be right back!” Micah said, like he was trying his best to sound chipper but utterly failing. He skipped outside.

 

Lloyd almost didn’t notice that he seemed to be hiding something from Lloyd. It was weird, but Lloyd didn’t really care.

 

Micah returned and he and Lloyd continued talking to each other until Rhian came in with the sound of the door chime.

 

“Heya, shitheads!” She exclaimed, waving jazz hands.

 

“Hey Rhian. ‘Pparently Lloyd has some weird power where he can tell who’s who’s future significant other,” Micah said, grinning. Lloyd knew he was joking but he was still worried about if he said too much about his power.

 

“Do I end up single, Llo?” Rhian asked, setting her elbow on the counter and leaning her chin on her her fist.

 

He looked at the string that connected Micah and Rhian. “No.”

 

Rhian pumped her fist. “Nice.”

 

“What about me?” Micah asked, “don’t say you can’t tell me again!”

 

“You don’t end up single either, Micah.” Lloyd rolled his eyes. Micah smiled. 

 

The three talked for awhile, and at one point Rhian almost tripped into an entire shelf of flowers, in which Micah decided to scoot to the far end of the counter, away from the flowers and other fragile things. Customers came in occasionally and then Lloyd and Rhian would whisper to each other as Micah listened to orders and passed them out. However, the shop was kind of empty other than that. Perfect for three teens to talk to each other.

 

Micah had also accidentally splashed some water on Lloyd. Lloyd had pouted and acted like a kicked puppy while Micah got him another coat. Micah, though apologetic, was snickering alongside Rhian, for Lloyd looked like a fucking yellow mop. After a while, though, Lloyd dried up, but his hair was a mess. Rhian and Micah carded their fingers through it more than once.

 

Time passed, and eventually Lloyd’s phone vibrated in his pocket. He took it out and checked it. Kai sent him a text to head back home. He groaned.

 

“As fun as this is, I gotta get back home,” Lloyd said. 

 

Rhian pouted. “Awww...”

 

“Goodbye,” Lloyd said, sighing. The others murmured their goodbyes and Lloyd walked out the door.

 

When he went outside, he could see a couple of crushed flowers and two slips of crumpled up paper beside a trash can. He picked the papers up and unravelled both. One was so crushed it was unintelligible, and the other was  _ almost _ completely unintelligible like the other paper. The part that could be read said ‘Llo’. Huh. 

 

The trash can also held more flowers, enough flowers to make up two bouquets. Or at least Lloyd thinks it can make up two bouquets. He’s not a flower expert.

 

“Eh.” He threw the paper on the ground and started his walk home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> owo up ,,da,te ,,,
> 
> also i swear i actually have a plotline and planned out chapters for this unlike red black blue so if i keep the motivation this will most likely not crash and burn like rbb so :3
> 
> tumblr -  
> main: general-nartis  
> ninjago: lesbianskylor

**Author's Note:**

> yooo!!! here it be, strings of fate au!
> 
> micah belongs to rose   
> tumblr: witchlightsands  
> ao3: whichlights
> 
> and rhian belongs to miles  
> tumblr: cynicalmiles  
> ao3: cynicalmiles
> 
> come talk to me about these messes  
> tumblr - lesbianskylor


End file.
